If you ever find yourself walking around campus on a Friday afternoon, there is a good chance you will run into one of the fastest growing clubs taking a walk on campus: the College of William and Mary’s Bird Club. As their name suggests, the Bird Club is focused on everything about birds, and every Friday, the members of the club gather at their designated meeting spot and spend an over an hour walking around campus observing the birds on campus.
“It’s nice to look, laugh, and enjoy nature,” Christina Sabochick ’22 said. “It definitely keeps your mind really active since you’re out identifying and listening to the sounds and trying to figure out what is around you, so I think it adds a very cool aspect to being in nature since you’re actually engaging with it.”
“It’s nice to look, laugh, and enjoy nature,” Christina Sabochick ’22 said. “It definitely keeps your mind really active since you’re out identifying and listening to the sounds and trying to figure out what is around you, so I think it adds a very cool aspect to being in nature since you’re actually engaging with it.”
Throughout their walks, the members of the club will use and share pairs of binoculars in order to get a better view of the avian wildlife they encounter. Some of the more experienced members of the club even try to identify the birds from afar using the binoculars to improve their knowledge about birds.
However, the weekly walks are not the only endeavors undertaken by the club. Once a month, the members of the club go to a special location off campus to see new wildlife and new areas of nature.
“A lot of times we will leave early in the mornings, and occasionally we will do an overnight trip,” Club President Tara Malloy ’22 said. “We’ll basically spend an entire day just birding or looking for birds, and then we usually get some food to relax.”
Although the physical expeditions can be fun for those interested in learning more about birds, the weekly walks — and especially the monthly trips — can be a large time commitment for members every week. In addition, the bird enthusiasts of the club do not want to have their discussions and interactions just limited to just the scheduled events.
As a remedy for both of these issues, the Bird Club has a very active club GroupMe that has over 235 users for members to discuss all things birds. Members of the club enjoy using GroupMe, and it is used for everything from funny humor to identifying the wildlife in pictures.
“There’s people interacting with each other every day, sharing news articles or sharing silly stories about birding or bird culture, and a huge thing is people sending the photos that they take to share with the group,” Sabochick said. “When we are all home for break, people will send what they are seeing from all over the country, like some people from the West Coast who send really cool shots from out there.”
Thus, while many members come for the birds, they often stay for the great social interactions the club provides. The sense of community fosters during the events is a highlight for many members — one does not need a pair of binoculars to observe the lifelong bonds that are formed between the active members of the club.
“My favorite part of Bird Club is the social aspect of it as a lot of people in the club I would consider to be good friends at this point even if we don’t see each other much outside of bird club,” Genevieve Kennedy ’23 said. “It just fosters a sense of community and lightheartedness, and it’s a good way to learn and get out there.”
“My favorite part of Bird Club is the social aspect of it as a lot of people in the club I would consider to be good friends at this point even if we don’t see each other much outside of bird club,” Genevieve Kennedy ‘23 said. “It just fosters a sense of community and lightheartedness, and it’s a good way to learn and get out there.”
This social aspect of the club is clearly one that resonates with a large number of members as the activities hosted by the club open members up to so many new experiences that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
“I think Bird Club really allowed me to come out of my shell a little bit more,” Malloy said. “I always think our trips are some of the most monumental bonding experiences, you just gain this bond, and you can’t just be too quiet and not interact, you get into it, and you get so many connections that you normally wouldn’t have gotten.”
“I think Bird Club really allowed me to come out of my shell a little bit more,” Malloy said.
Members of the Bird Club have joined for a variety of different reasons. Some members knew very early on that the Bird Club was the perfect fit for them while others are just now getting into it.
“I wanted to join because I had had interest in birds and birding before coming to college but never really had the gumption to figure out how to do it,” Kennedy said. “But one of the things that I had noticed on activity day was that there was a bird club here, and it was really cool to come and it has been really welcoming.”
In addition to fun walks and engaging social events, the Bird Club partakes in more serious matters relating to the safety and health of birds on campus and in the area. One initiative that members participate in is walking around campus and searching for buildings that contain potential hazards to avian wildlife. If they do find an issue, they will attempt to raise awareness about it and help in whatever way they can to fix the issue. The club notes that buildings with a high number of windows are particular offenders and sometimes alumni of the club will donate money and resources for solutions.
Another focus of the club is bettering general environmental sustainability to not only promote the well-being of birds, but also the well-being of the ecosystem as a whole.
“Birds are everywhere, and they are a good environmental indicator, and they also affect so much that many don’t realize,” Malloy said. “Just bringing that awareness of specifically birds and sustainability is a cool aspect of the club.”
“Birds are everywhere, and they are a good environmental indicator, and they also affect so much that many don’t realize,” Malloy said. “Just bringing that awareness of specifically birds and sustainability is a cool aspect of the club.”
But regardless of whether the members of the club are attempting to solve a serious issue relating to the health of birds or just posting funny pictures in their group chat, the incredible relationships formed will only continue to grow. And despite whether one has a significant amount of experience with birding, or is just starting out as a beginner, the William and Mary Bird Club is more than happy for anyone on campus to join their GroupMe and attend their weekly walks as it is not only the knowledge of birds, but also the lifelong social connections that the members of the organization cherish so closely.
